1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to paper sheet transfer apparatus, and particularly relates to a paper sheet transfer apparatus comprised of a paper sheet supplying apparatus and a paper sheet receiving apparatus implemented as part of a copier machine or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier, or a facsimile machine is generally provided with options to install peripheral units such as a large-scale paper supply apparatus that stores therein a large number of print sheets, or a post-processing apparatus such as a punch, a mailbox, a paper folding unit, a sorter for sorting printed sheets, etc. Such optional apparatuses are detachable from the image forming apparatus. When an optional apparatus is attached, the positioning thereof relative to the image forming apparatus needs to be carefully made such that sheets are supplied from the paper supply apparatus to the image forming apparatus without paper jam, or are supplied from the image forming apparatus to the post-processing apparatus without paper jam.
FIG. 10 is a drawing showing a paper supply and receipt mechanism of the related art. FIG. 10 shows the configuration of a paper exchanging portion between an image forming apparatus and a large-scale paper supply apparatus. In FIG. 10, upper and lower guide plates 136 and 137 of the paper supply apparatus on the paper supply side are fixed as to their positions, and so are the upper and lower guide plates 36 and 37 of the image forming apparatus on the paper receipt side. In order to insure proper paper feeding even if relative positioning in the vertical direction exhibits displacement for one reason or another, the upper and lower guide plates 36 and 37 of the image forming apparatus are configured to exhibit a large aperture angle. This aperture angle may be too wide in some instances, causing a failure to pass a paper sheet in the case of a curled sheet, thereby causing paper jam.
To obviate this problem, some optional apparatuses are designed to be adjustable as to their positions relative to the image forming apparatus, thereby making it possible to cope with various restrictions imposed regarding the place of installment. Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 11-79430 discloses such an optical apparatus. This optional apparatus is a large-scale paper supply apparatus, which includes a paper supply unit and a paper sheet rack that supports the paper supply unit in a position adjustable manner.
In this related-art configuration, the paper supply unit and the paper sheet rack are provided as separate units. Because of this, the paper supply unit needs to be installed by attaching it to the image forming apparatus, and, then, the paper sheet rack has to be installed by attaching it to the paper supply unit. This requires several steps of installation process, and is thus cumbersome. Further, separate housings are necessary for the paper supply unit and the paper sheet rack, respectively, resulting in a cost increase of the large-scale paper supply apparatus.
Accordingly, there is a need for a paper sheet transfer apparatus which can be readily installed and can be taken care of through simple maintenance work while providing proper paper transfer performance.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a sheet transfer apparatus that substantially obviates one or more of the problems caused by the limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
Features and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent from the description and the accompanying drawings, or may be learned by practice of the invention according to the teachings provided in the description. Objects as well as other features and advantages of the present invention will be realized and attained by a sheet transfer apparatus particularly pointed out in the specification in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, an apparatus for transferring paper sheets according to the present invention includes a supply device which supplies sheets, a supply unit which is provided as part of the supply device and forms a supply outlet through which the sheets are ejected, a receiving device which is connected to the supply device in such a manner as to be vertically movable relative to the supply device, and a receiving unit which is provided as part of the receiving device and forms a receiving inlet by which the sheets are received, wherein one of the supply unit and the receiving unit is configured to be vertically movable, and changes a vertical position thereof in response to relative positional relationship between the supply device and the receiving device.
In the apparatus described above, the receiving unit on the sheet receiving side and the supply unit on the sheet supply side are configured to be vertically movable, and shift their positions in response to relative positional relationship between the supply device and the receiving device. Even if the supply device is positioned lower than or higher than the receiving device, or is relatively displaced in a vertical direction over a prolonged period of time, proper sheet transfer can be achieved. In order to make the supply unit or the receiving unit vertically movable, they may be configured to swing around a pivot point, or may be configured to be elastically bendable in the vertical direction.
With this provision, it suffices that the supply device and the receiving device be fixed with respect to their horizontal positions, and these two devices can be connected in such a manner that allows for vertical movement. This makes it easier to install the devices and attend to maintenance work while keeping sufficiently proper performance of sheet transfer.
Other objects and further features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.